Program Manager, Long-Range Missile Program

Chaos Industries; El Segundo (CA); On-site; USD 220,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Benefits: 100% paid

401k company match

Free daily lunch onsite

Relocation assistance

Annual bonuses

Job summary

CHAOS Industries seeks a proactive Program Manager to lead a long-range missile program from development through flight test and production transition. You will align cross-functional teams, manage budgets, and ensure contract objectives are met, acting as the main liaison to the customer COTR.

Travel up to 30% is required to support program objectives and site activities. Qualified candidates will have 8+ years of aerospace program management experience, strong communication skills, and

Qualifications

• Requires 8+ years of PM experience in aerospace/defense programs.
• Experience leading programs through development lifecycle including test.
• Excellent oral and written communication for diverse audiences.

Responsibilities

• Own full program lifecycle from development through flight test and production transition.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams across engineering, supply chain, manufacturing, and Growth.
• Serve as primary POC to customer COTR/Tech POC for contract, cost, schedule, and performance.
• Manage program budget and resource allocation; ensure compliance with SOW.
• Travel up to 30% to support program objectives and test sites.

Skills

Program Management

Aerospace Experience

Leadership

Communication

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related field

Advanced degree (MS/PhD)

Tools

JIRA

Confluence

MS Project

Job description

CHAOS Industries is redefining modern defense with a multi-product portfolio that gives the ultimate advantage—domain dominance. The company's products are powered by Coherent Distributed Networks (CDN™), empowering warfighters, commercial air operators, and border protection teams to act faster, adapt rapidly, and stay ahead of evolving threats.

CHAOS Industries was founded in 2022 and has raised a total of $1 billion in funding from leading investors, including 8VC, Accel, and Valor Equity Partners. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, San Diego, and London. For more information, please visit www.chaosinc.com.

Role Overview:

CHAOS is seeking a proactive and detail-oriented Program Manager to lead the successful delivery of our long range missile program. This role is critical to aligning cross-functional teams, meeting customer requirements, and ensuring on-time delivery within budget, from development through flight test and production transition. The Program Manager will collaborate closely with Business Development (BD), Growth, Engineering, Manufacturing and Mission Delivery teams to oversee program execution, manage budgets, and ensure all technical and contractual objectives are met.

Responsibilities:

• Program Lifecycle Ownership
  • Lead the full program lifecycle to ensure that cost, schedule, and performance goals are met
  • Provide oversight of all technical and operational functions, planning, organization, and control of resources to complete all contract deliverables and services
  • Plan and direct execution of the contractual, technical, multi-disciplinary engineering, test, and administrative support effort
  • Plan and track program milestones, including design reviews, test events, and flight test campaigns, and report progress through regularly scheduled briefings to leadership
  • Working with technical delivery leads, manage acquisition and employment of program resources
  • Ensure sufficient qualified staffing to achieve timely and successful completion of the efforts described in the contract statement of work (SOW)
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Coordinate efforts across engineering, supply chain, manufacturing, test, operations, and Growth for integrated execution of the program
  • Lead and coordinate efforts to resolve program-related challenges and blockers
• Customer Engagement
  • Serve as the primary POC to the customer's COTR/Tech POC for contract, cost, schedule, and performance
  • Coordinate all program management reviews with the customer to discuss contract performance, special topics of interest, and issue resolutions
  • Coordinate with the technical delivery team on drafting and finalization of status reports, final reports, and other contract deliverable documentation as required by contract
• Budget & Resource Management
  • Manage program budget and resource allocation to meet program requirements efficiently
  • Support financial controls and administrative aspects of the program
• Change Management
  • Manage and document scope changes, ensuring alignment with program goals
  • Travel up to 30% as needed to support program and customer objectives, including test and customer sites

Minimum Requirements:

• B.S. in engineering, computer science, business, or other related field, and/or equivalent Program Management experience in a fast-paced, dynamic environment
• 8+ years of Project/Program Management experience managing complex aerospace or defense development programs of similar scope and complexity
• Demonstrated experience leading a program through multiple phases of the development lifecycle, including test
• Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to present complex information clearly and concisely to diverse audiences
• Direct experience with customer S&T and early development organizations such as AFRL, ONR, Army DEVCOM as well as program of record materiel development organizations
• Ability and willingness to travel up to 30% as needed to support program and customer objectives
• Current or recent DoD SECRET clearance

Preferred Requirements:

• Prior program management experience on a missile, munition, or other weapon system program
• Experience with DoD acquisition processes, contract types, and government oversight (e.g., DCMA, DCAA)
• Experience with flight test campaigns and range coordination
• Experience with integrated master scheduling
• Current or recent DoD TOP SECRET security clearance; eligibility for SAP and/or SCI indoc.
• Experience with Agile project management using tools like JIRA and Confluence
• Prior systems engineering or software integration experience
• Experience with a prime integrator or in a fast-moving defense startup
• Advanced degree in a technical field

Why CHAOS?

• Health Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision benefits 100% paid for by the company
• Additional benefits: 401k (+ 50% company match up to 6% of pay), FSA, HSA, life insurance, and more
• Our Perks: Free daily lunch while you're working onsite, fully-stocked kitchen, unlimited PTO, casual dress code
• Compensation Components: Competitive base salaries, generous pre-IPO stock option grants, relocation assistance, and (coming soon!) annual bonuses
• Team Growth: 500+employees and counting across 5 global offices

Salary Range: $220,000 - $300,000

The stated compensation range reflects only the targeted base compensation range and excludes additional earnings such as bonus, equity, and benefits. If your compensation requirements fall outside of the range, we still encourage you to apply. The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations.

Recruiting Agencies: CHAOS Industries does not accept unsolicited resumes or outreach. Unsolicited submissions will not be reviewed or compensated.

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